Stock futures rise after Sarkozy comments on Greece

By IBT Staff Reporter On 06/17/11 AT 9:24 AM

Stock index futures rose on Friday after French President Nicolas Sarkozy hinted at a deal to resolve the Greek debt crisis, which has hampered equities and worried investors over a possible credit dry-up.

* Sarkozy said there was no time to lose on agreeing on a program for Greece, suggesting a deal needed to be reached in July at the latest.

* We want to go as quickly as possible without fixing a date, Sarkozy said after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding that the pair had the same position on Greece.

* The euro reversed its recent trend to gain more than 0.5 percent against the U.S. dollar, and European equities turned positive for the day after Sarkozy's statement.

* Economic data on tap includes the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers preliminary June consumer sentiment index, due at 9:55 a.m. EDT. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 74.0 compared with 74.3 in the final May report.

* Shares of Research In Motion Ltd dropped more than 15 percent in premarket trading after the BlackBerry maker posted a drop in quarterly profit and revenue missed the company's own limp forecast.